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/  have  read  the  excellent  sermon  by  Frederic  R. 
Marvin  with  hearty  approval.  The  sooner  we  recog- 
nize the  fact  that  the  mercy  of  the  All-Merciful 
extends  to  every  creature  endowed  with  life,  the  better 
will  it  be  for  us  as  men  and  Christians.  I  hope  the 
sermon  will  have  a  wide  circulation,  and  teach  its 
readers  that  the  dear  Christ  is  *'  among  the  cattle" 
as  well  as  among  their  owners. 

— ^JoHN  G.  Whittier. 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 


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Christ  Among  the  Cattle 

A  SERMON 


PREACHED   IN 


Zbc  fixet  Cottdrcgational  Cburcb 
PORTLAND,  OREGON 

BY 

FREDERIC  ROWLAND    MARVIN 


¥' 


FOURTH    EDITION 
REVISED    AND    CORRECTED 


PAFRAETS   BOOK   COMPANY 

TROY,    NEW   YORK 

1906 


4 


K 


/• 


HE  sendeth  the  springs  into  the 
valleys,  which  run  among  the 
hills.  They  give  drink  to  every  beast 
of  the  field ;  the  wild  asses  quench 
their  thirst.  By  them  shall  the  fowls 
of  the  heaven  have  their  habitation, 
which  sing  among  the  branches. — 
Psalm  CIV.  10-12. 

BEHOLD  the  fowls  of  the  air;  for 
they  sow  not,  neither  do  they 
reap,  nor  gather  into  barns ;  yet  your 
heavenly  Father  feedeth  them.  — 
Matthew  VI.  26. 

Among  the  noblest  in  the  land, 

Though  he  may  count  himself  the  least, 

That  man  I  honor  and  revere 

Who  without  favor,  without  fear. 

In  the  great  city  dares  to  stand 

The  friend  of  every  friendless  beast. 
— Longfellow. 


164779 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

IT  is  a  significant  fact  that  our  Saviour 
was  cradled  in  a  manger,  and  that 
Mary,  crowded  out  from  the  inn 
or  caravansary,  found  shelter  with  the 
beasts  of  burden  and  cattle  of  the  field, 
and  brought  forth  the  Prince  of  Peace 
in  a  common  stable.  It  was  literally 
true,  as  we  sing  at  Christmas-time  — 

*'  Cold  on  His  cradle  the  dewdrops  are  shining, 
Low  lies  His  head  with  the  beasts  of  the  stall." 

Nothing  in  our  Saviour's  life  is  with- 
out its  lesson  of  divine  wisdom,  and  we 
may  study  the  circumstances  of  His 
birth,  sure  of  finding  at  every  point 
ample  reward  for  our  industry. 

I  call  attention  to  ''  Christ  among  the 
Cattle."     Why  was  our  Savior  cradled 


2     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

in  a  manger?  Why  was  He,  whose 
advent  had  been  the  exalted  theme 
of  prophet  and  psalmist,  denied  the 
honor  so  readily  accorded  children  of 
a  royal  line  ?  Excellent  reasons  have 
been  advanced,  and  yet  one  of  great 
importance  seems  to  have  been  over- 
looked. Was  not  our  Saviour's  advent 
associated  with  beasts  of  the  stall  to 
teach  us  lessons  of  respect  for  and 
kindness  toward  the  animal  world  ? 

The  dictates  of  the  human  heart  and 
of  religion  are  agreed  that  kindness  to 
animals  is  a  sacred  duty,  and  that  we 
ought 

*'  Never  to  mix  our  pleasure  or  our  pride 
With  sorrow  of  the  meanest  thing  that  feels." 

We  read  in  Scripture,  "  A  righteous 
man  regardeth  the  life  of  his  beast." 
The   angel  of   the  Lord  rebuked  the 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     3 

cruel  Balaam  for  smiting  the  ass  three 
times.  God  spared  Nineveh  because 
there  was  "  much  cattle  in  the  city." 
The  law  of  Moses  forbade  muzzling 
the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn.  • 
That  law  contained  several  special 
precepts  enjoining  mercy  to  animals. 
We  read :  "  If  a  bird's  nest  chance  to 
be  before  thee  in  the  way,  in  any  tree, 
or  on  the  ground,  whether  they  be 
young  ones,  or  eggs,  and  the  dam  sit- 
ting upon  the  young,  or  upon  the  eggs, 
thou  shalt  not  take  the  dam  with  the 
young;  but  thou  shalt  in  anywise  let 
the  dam  go."  Again  we  read  :  "  Thou 
shalt  not  plough  with  an  ox  and  an  ass 
together" — that  is,  thou  shalt  adapt 
the  work  to  the  strength  of  the  animal. 
Jacob  was  studiously  careful  for  his 
flocks   and   herds,   and   treated   them 


4     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

with  something  of  the  tenderness  he 
bestowed  upon  his  children.  "  If  men 
should  overdrive  them  one  day,  all  the 
flocks  will  die,  so  I  will  lead  on  softly," 
said  he  to  Esau,  "  according  as  the 
cattle  that  goeth  before  me  be  able  to 
endure." 

The  Bible  is  a  book  of  mercy  for 
man  and  beast.  Its  sacred  pages  have 
ameliorated  and  still  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  both,  and  though  we  find . 
bloody  sacrifices  enjoined,  we  discover 
no  wanton  cruelty  and  no  disrespect 
for  brute  creatures.  Turn  to  the  Ten 
Commandments  and  read  :  "  Remem- 
ber the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy. 
Six  days  shalt  thou  labor  and  do  all 
thy  work.  But  the  seventh  is  the  Sab- 
bath of  the  Lord  thy  God  ;  in  it  thou 
shalt    not    do    any  work,    thou,    nor 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     5 

thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy  man- 
servant nor  thy  maid-servant,  nor  thy 
cattle  that  is  with  thee,  nor  the  stranger 
within  thy  gates."  You  see  the  cattle 
are  remembered  and  rest  is  provided 
for  them  in  the  same  command  that 
secures  it  to  us.  And  as  if  to  impress 
upon  the  human  mind  the  sacredness 
of  the  duty  we  owe  the  animal  world, 
the  Holy  Scriptures  represent  our 
Redeemer  under  the  form  of  a  lamb. 
"  He  is  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the 
slaughter,  and  as  a  sheep  before  her 
shearers  is  dumb,  so  He  openeth  not 
his  mouth."  "Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world.  *  And  He  is  also  represented 
as  a  shepherd,  illustrating  in  His  own 
watchful  care  over  His  people  the 
spirit  He  would  have   us  manifest  in 


6     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

dealing  with  the  creatures  dependent 
upon  our  will  and  pleasure.  "  He  shall 
feed  His  flock  like  a  shepherd ;  He 
shall  gather  the  lambs  with  His  arms, 
and  carry  them  in  His  bosom,  and  shall 
gently  lead  those  that  are  with  young." 
And  the  reign  of  peace  on  earth  for 
which  we  are  commanded  to  labor  and 
pray  is  set  forth  under  the  figure  of  a 
wolf  and  a  lamb  dwelling  together.  It 
is,  moreover,  remarkable  that  the  para- 
graph which  opens  with  the  promise, 
"  For  behold,  I  create  new  heavens, 
and  a  new  earth,"  closes  with  the  an- 
nouncement that  at  such  period,  "  The 
wolf  and  the  lamb  shall  feed  together, 
and  the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  the 
bullock  ;  and  dust  shall  be  the  serpent's 
meat.  They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy 
in  all    my   holy    mountain,  saith    the 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     7 

Lord."  The  dove  has  been  used  from 
most  ancient  times  as  a  sacred  symbol. 
In  Scripture  it  signifies  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  meekness  of  Christ,  and  the  desire 
of  saints  for  the  heavenly  rest.  "  Oh, 
that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove !  for  then 
I  would  fly  away,  and  be  at  rest :  " 

*'  So  prayed  the  Psalmist  to  be  free 

From  mortal  bonds  and  earthly  thrall ; 
And  such,  or  soon  or  late,  shall  be 

Full  oft  the  heart-breathed  prayer  of  all. 

"And  we,  when  life's  last  sands  are  run, 

With  faltering  foot  and  aching  breast, 
Shall  sigh  for  wings  that  waft  the  dove. 
To  flee  away  and  be  at  rest." 

The  life  of  an  animal  is  sacred  like 
our  own,  and  may  not  be  wantonly 
destroyed.  Of  course,  there  are  cir- 
cumstances that  justify  the  sacrifice  ; 
thus  we  may  take  the  life  of  a  beast  in 


8     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

self-defense,  as  when  one  slays  a  ven- 
omous reptile,  a  rabid  dog,  or  a  fero- 
cious tiger.  Life  may  be  taken  for  the 
purpose  of  food,  and,  in  fact,  for  any 
decidedly  useful  end.  Cowper  epito- 
mizes the  matter  thus : 

*'  The    sum     is    this :    If    man's     convenience, 
health, 
Or  safety  interfere,  his  rights  and  claims 
Are  paramount,  and  must  extinguish  theirs; 
Else  they  are  all,  the  meanest  things  that  are, 
As  free  to  live,  and  to  enjoy  that  life. 
As  God  was  free  to  form  them  at  the  first, 
"Who  in  His  sovereign  wisdom  made  them  all." 

It  is  sinful  to  intentionally  deprive 
an  animal  of  life  without  suitable  and 
sufficient  reason.  The  beasts  of  the 
field,  the  birds  of  the  air  and  fishes  in 
the  water,  have  the  same  right  to  life 
that  we  have.  And  I  think  it  not 
absurd  to  assume  that  Divine  Provi- 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     9 

dence  cradled  the  Christ  in  a  manger, 
and  surrounded  him  with  dumb  cattle, 
to  teach  us  respect  for  the  animal 
world.  Certain  it  is  that  whenever  the 
Christ  is  born  again  in  the  manger  of 
the  human  heart,  the  fragrant  flowers 
of  mercy  and  kindness  spring  up  on 
every  side,  and  I  would  not  give  much 
for  the  religion  of  a  man  who  has  no 
sacred  regard  for  brute  life.  It  is  to 
be  feared  that  some  of  us  show  want 
of  delicacy  and  bluntness  of  moral  per- 
ception in  dealing  with  the  animal 
world.  It  was  the  fashion,  not  long 
ago,  for  ladies  to  wear  birds*  wings  in 
their  hats  and  dresses,  and  innocent 
song-birds  in  every  land  were  slaugh- 
tered to  gratify  a  savage  and  repulsive 
taste.  An  English  paper  described  a 
marriage  in  which  eleven  bridesmaids 


lo     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

wore  dresses  trimmed  with  feathers 
and  down  from  swans  and  robins. 
What  a  slaughter  of  birds  for  one  wed- 
ding! Those  robes  should  have  been 
smeared  with  blood ;  they  stood  for 
wanton  and  shameful  cruelty.  Inno- 
cent humming-birds,  kingfishers,  larks 
and  nightingales  snared  and  shot  to 
decorate  a  woman's  bonnet  and  adorn 
her  dress  1  It  is  identically  the  same 
taste  that  leads  an  Indian  to  adorn  his 
girdle  with  scalps  and  ornament  his 
wigwam  with  skulls.  One  London 
dealer  in  birds  received,  when  the 
fashion  was  at  its  height,  a  single  con- 
signment of  32,000  dead  humming- 
birds, and  another  received  at  one  time 
30,000  aquatic  birds,  and  800,000  pairs 
of  wings.  At  one  auction  in  London 
there  were  sold  404,389  West  Indian 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     1 1 

and  Brazilian  bird-skins,  and  356,389 
East  Indian,  together  with  thousands 
of  pheasants  and  birds-of-Paradise. 

At  a  recent  feather  sale  in  London 
one  firm  offered  12,000  ounces  of  osprey 
plumes.  To  understand  the  extent  of 
the  dreadful  slaughter  indicated  by- 
such  an  offer  it  must  be  remembered 
that  a  full  grown  aigret  yields  only 
one-sixth  of  an  ounce.  The  aigret  is 
the  bridal  adornment  of  the  heron, 
and  the  death  of  the  bird  at  its  nesting 
season  means  the  death  by  starvation 
of  all  its  young.  A  correspondent  of 
the  New  York  Tribune  wrote  to  that 
paper  under  date  of  December  29th, 
1905,  as  follows : 

"  One  consignment  in  London  gives 
the  following  figures :  Osprey  plumes, 
11,000  ounces  ;  birds-of-Paradise,  2,000 


12     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

bundles  ;  Indian  parrots,  200,000  bun- 
dles ;  Tangers  and  other  birds,  38,000 
bundles ;  humming  birds,  100,000 
bundles." 

The  small  gulls  and  sea  swallows  are 
shot  for  their  wings,  and  the  fowlers,  in 
their  haste,  do  not  stop  to  kill  the 
wounded  birds;  they  merely  wrench 
off  the  wings  and  throw  the  little  crea- 
tures back  into  the  water  to  die  in 
agony.  When  the  wounded  birds  are 
being  torn  asunder  they  cry,  it  is  said, 
and  scream  like  a  child.  Commenting 
upon  this  ruthless  slaughter,  the  Lon- 
don Times sa.id:  "  The  feathered  woman 
is  a  cruel  woman  who  for  the  sake  of  a 
passing  fashion  that  should  disgust  all 
who  think  and  feel,  is  willing  to  bring 
dishonour  upon  her  sex  and  rob  nature 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     13 

of    its  beauty  without  adding  to  her 
own." 

Well  might  Canon  Rawnsley  say  in 
Croswaithe  Church  one  Sunday :  '*  It 
is  a  travesty  of  religion  and  a  mockery 
for  women,  decked  with  aigrets  to  sing 
in  the  Benedicite,  *  O,  all  ye  fowls  of 
the  air,  praise  Him  and  magnify  Him 
forever.*  " 

"  Think  what  a  price  to  pay, 
Faces  so  bright  and  gay, 
Just  for  a  hat  ! 
Flowers  unvisited,  mornings  unsung, 
Sea-ranges  bare  of  the  wings  that  o'erswung  — 
Bared  just  for  that  ! 

"  Think  of  the  others,  too, 
Others  and  mothers,  too, 
Bright-Eyes  in  hat  ! 
Hear  you  no  mother-groan  floating  in  air. 
Hear  you  no  little  moan  — birdling's  despair  — 
Somewhere,  for  that  ? 


14     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

"  Caught  'mid  some  mother-work, 
Torn  by  a  hunter  Turk, 
Just  for  your  hat  ! 
Plenty  of  Mother-heart  yet  in  the  world  ! 
All  the  more  wings  to  tear,  carefully  twirled  — 
Women  want  that  ! 

"  Oh,  but  the  shame  of  it, 
Oh,  but  the  blame  of  it. 
Price  of  a  hat  ! 
Just  for  a  jauntiness  brightening  the  street  ! 
This  is  your  halo,  O  faces  so  sweet  — 
Death  ;  and  for  that  !  " 

There  is  Scripture  authority  for  say- 
ing that  you  will  be  called  to  account 
for  your  treatment  of  animals,  and 
that  God  will  hold  you  responsible  for 
every  act  of  cruelty.*    Said  Jesus  when 


*  This  does  not  appear  to  be  the  view  enter- 
tained by  a  considerable  number  of  Roman 
Catholic  writers  and  instructors.  Mr.  Rickaly's 
**  Moral  Philosophy,"  a  text  book  used  in  many 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     15 

speaking  of  the  birds,  "  Not  one  of 
them  is  forgotten  before  God."  Let 
the  London  dealer  in  dead  birds 
remember  that.  The  same  Heavenly- 
Love  that  provides  for  your  every  want 
cares  for  them.  "  Behold  the  fowls  of 
the  air,  for  they  sow  not,  neither  do 
they  reap,  or  gather  into  barns ;  yet 
your  heavenly  Father  feedeth  them." 
"  Are  not  two   sparrows  sold  for  a  far- 


Roman  Catholic  educational    institutions,  has 
this  to  say  concerning  the  rights  of  animals  : 

"  But  there  is  no  shadow  of  evil  resting  on 
the  practice  of  causing  pain  to  brutes  in  sport, 
where  the  pain  is  not  the  sport  itself,  but  the 
incidental  concomitant  of  it.  Much  more  in 
all  that  conduces  to  the  sustenance  of  man  may 
we  give  pain  to  brutes,  as  also  in  the  pursuit  of 
science.  Nor  are  we  bound  to  any  anxious  care 
to  make  this  pain  as  little  as  may  be.  Brutes 
are  things  in  our  regard." 


i6     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

thing?  and  one  of  them  shall  not  fall 
on  the  ground  without  your  Father." 
There  is  a  vast  difference  between 
destroying  an  animal  for  its  warm  and 
serviceable  fur,  and  shooting  a  bird  for 
its  plumage  ;  and  yet  the  story  of  the 
butchery  of  seals  in  Arctic  waters  is 
sad  enough  to  make  the  stoutest  heart 
faint,  and  is  attended  with  so  much  wan- 
ton cruelty  that  even  the  seal  hunters 
themselves  are  often  filled  with  dismay. 
Another  form  of  cruelty  practiced 
for  the  sake  of  fashion  is  the  manufac- 
ture of  gloves,  the  skins  for  which  come 
from  France,  Italy,  Spain,  Mexico  and 
South  America.  In  France  the  cruelty 
is  revolting.  Great  care  is  taken  in 
raising  the  kids,  and  they  are  sewed  in 
covers  to  keep  their  skins  in  a  condi- 
tion   of    perfect    softness.     The  kids 


CHUIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     17 

grow,  but  the  covers  are  not  changed. 
Untold  pain  is  inflicted  on  the  little 
animals.  They  writhe  in  torture  in 
their  unyielding  jackets.  France  alone 
makes  more  than  24,000,000  pairs  of 
kid  gloves  every  year. 

That  God  intended  many  animals  to 
be  food  for  man  there  can  be  no  reason- 
able doubt,  but  it  is  our  duty  to  take 
life  in  such  cases  in  as  painless  a  way 
as  the  purpose  to  be  served  will  per- 
mit. The  art  and  science  are  not 
wasted  that  mitigate  the  distress  of 
even  the  humblest  of  God's  creatures. 
Before  Mr.  Bergh  began  his  mission  of 
mercy,  and  established  in  New  York, 
his  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Cruelty  to  Animals,  our  transportation 
companies  gave  no  attention  to  the 
comfort  of  live  stock.     The  cars  were 


i8     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

crowded  and  filthy,  and  food  and  water 
were  not  provided  in  suitable  quanti- 
ties, and  at  proper  times.  In  the 
transit  of  cattle  there  has  been  of  late 
considerable  improvement,  the  trucks 
being  larger  and  more  convenient  than 
formerly ;  and  on  some  railroads  spe- 
cial provision  is  now  made  for  the  care 
of  cattle  in  long  journeys.  Our  butchers 
might  learn  a  useful  lesson  from  the 
skillful  matadore  who  kills  his  bull  by 
puncturing  the  spinal  marrow  in  the 
neck.  In  a  few  English  slaughter- 
houses and  French  abattoirs  the  cus- 
tom has  been  adopted.  Death  by  this 
method  (it  is  called  pithing)  is  com- 
paratively painless.  The  production 
of  "  white  veal  "  is  an  outrage.  How 
any  man  can  eat  the  unwholesome 
delicacy  with  knowledge  of  the  agony 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     19 

it  has  cost  is  incomprehensible.  To 
skin  eels  alive  and  to  boil  lobsters  and 
crabs  without  first  piercing  them  is 
extremely  cruel. 

Few  are  aware  of  the  cruelty  prac- 
ticed in  the  making  oi  foie  gras  which 
is  a  product  of  artificially  induced  dis- 
ease in  the  livers  of  geese.  The  fowl 
is  placed  in  a  box  so  arranged  that  it 
can  move  its  head  only.  The  creature 
is  then  gorged  with  a  rich  diet  which 
is  forced  down  the  gullet.  In  response 
to  this  treatment  the  liver  soon  be- 
comes affected,  and  in  about  three 
months  attains  an  enormous  size  from 
fatty  degeneration.  The  larger  the 
liver  the  more  successful  the  process. 
The  most  valuable  livers  are  those  of 
a  green  tint ;  that  is  to  say  fatty  livers 
impregnated  with  bile  pigments.    The 


20     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

center  of  this  trade  is  Strasburg,  which 
sends  out  750,000  dollars  worth  of 
the  unwholesome  delicacy  every  year. 
Three  months  of  torture  by  forced 
feeding  are  required  to  bring  the  fowl 
to  the  proper  pitch  of  organic  degen- 
eration so  that  its  liver  may  tickle  the 
palate  of  the  gourmand. 

It  is  recorded  that  when  the  Due  de 
Bourgogue  was  born,  Dr.  Clement,  the 
celebrated  accoucheur^  wishing  to  ap- 
ply to  the  mother,  in  order  to  quiet 
her  pain,  the  skin  of  a  newly  flayed 
sheep,  directed  a  butcher  to  skin  the 
animal  alive  in  the  sideroom.  The  door 
being  open,  the  skinless  and  bleeding 
sheep  followed  the  physician  to  the 
bedside  of  his  patient,  and  in  its  agony, 
actually  leaped  upon  the  bed.  We  are 
reminded  of  the  story  of  Caesar  Borgia 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     21 

who  had  a  living  ox  disemboweled  in 
his  apartments,  and  as  soon  as  the 
operation  had  been  performed,  leaped 
into  the  still  living  body  of  the  ox, 
putting  himself  in  the  place  of  the  in- 
testines, that  he  might  receive  into 
himself  the  life  the  creature  was  to 
lose. 

The  men  and  women  who  have  de- 
fended animals  have  not  been  weak, 
sentimental  and  silly,  as  is  sometimes 
averred ;  on  the  contrary,  they  have 
represented  the  most  enlightened  and 
thoughtful  circles  of  society.  Arthur 
Helps  and  Earl  Stanhope  have  been 
outspoken  friends  of  the  brute  crea- 
tion ;  Cowper  has  described  cruelty  in 
lines  of  peculiar  power  and  spirit ;  Dr. 
Chalmers  made  the  subject  a  matter 
of  pulpit  discussion;  Leigh    Hunt,  re- 


22     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

buking  all  pleasure  had  at  the  expense 
of  others,  declares  that  when  we  injure 
animals  for  sport  we  "  injure  also 
our  own  humanity  ;  "  Robert  Southey 
thought  it  not  beneath  him  to  write  a 
letter  to  some  young  men  who  had 
maltreated  a  cat ;  and  Stuart  Mill,  in 
the  closing  chapter  of  his  **  Political 
Economy,"  pronounces  in  favor  of 
legal  interference  for  the  protection  of 
animals.* 


*The  honor  is  claimed  for  Jeremy  Bentham 
of  being  the  first  in  modern  times  to  definitely 
and  persistently  demand  for  animals  those  com- 
mon rights  which  are  now  fully  accorded  them 
by  all  good  men.  He  wrote  in  his  '*  Principles 
of  Penal  Law,"  chap,  xvi  :  "  The  legislator 
ought  to  interdict  everything  which  may  serve 
to  lead  to  cruelty ;  cock-fights,  bull-baiting, 
hunting  hares  and  foxes,  fishing  and  other 
amusements  of  the  same  kind,  necessarily  sup- 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     23 

Little  care  is  taken  to  teach  children 
the  principles  of  kindly  humanity. 
Most  parents  seem  to  think  it  of  little 
consequence  whether  their  sons  and 
daughters  grow  up  with  regard  for  the 
rights  of  animals,  or  without  such 
regard,  and  I  believe  many  a  life  of 
cruelty  and  brutality  dates  from  early 
youth,  and  may  be  traced  to  its  source 
in  little  acts  of  wanton  and  malicious  ill- 


pose  either  the  absence  of  reflection  or  a  fund  of 
inhumanity,  since  they  produce  the  most  acute 
sufferings  to  sensible  beings,  and  the  most  pain- 
ful and  lingering  death  of  which  we  can  form 
any  idea.  Why  should  the  law  refuse  its  pro- 
tection to  any  sensitive  being  ?  The  time  will 
come  when  humanity  will  extend  its  mantle  over 
everything  which  breathes.  We  have  begun 
by  attending  to  the  condition  of  slaves  ;  we 
shall  finish  by  softening  that  of  all  the  animals 
which  assist  our  labors  or  supply  our  wants. 


24     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

treatment  of  dependent  animals.  How 
differently  was  Theodore  Parker  edu- 
cated !  When  Theodore  was  a  little 
boy  his  father  walked  with  him  one 
spring  morning  in  a  distant  part  of  the 
farm.  They  passed  a  pond  where  was 
blooming  a  rhodora,  which  so  attracted 
the  boy's  attention  as  to  draw  him  to 
the  water's  edge,  and  there  he  saw  a 
large  spotted  tortoise  basking  in  the 
sunlight.  Theodore  had  never  killed 
any  creature,  but  he  had  seen  boys 
stone  birds  and  squirrels  and  torment 
cats  and  dogs,  and  he  at  once  seized  a 
stick  to  follow  their  example  and 
destroy  the -tortoise.  But  an  unseen 
power  restrained  his  arm  and  a  voice 
within  him  said,  "  It  is  wrong."  The 
child  looked  around  and  saw  no  one 
but  his  father.     Fear  seized  upon  him 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     25 

and  he  hastened  to  his  mother  in  the 
utmost  alarm  and  asked  her  what  it 
was  that  told  him  it  was  wrong.  The 
good  woman,  wiping  the  tears  from  her 
eyes,  took  the  child  in  her  arms  and 
said :  "  Some  men  call  it  conscience, 
but  I  prefer  to  call  it  the  voice  of  God 
in  the  soul  of  man.  If  you  listen  and 
obey  it,  then  it  will  speak  clearer  and 
clearer,  and  always  guide  you  right ; 
but  if  you  turn  a  deaf  ear  or  disobey, 
then  it  will  leave  you  all  in  the  dark 
and  without  a  guide.  Your  life  de- 
pends on  your  heeding  that  little 
voice."  Theodore  Parker  lived  to  be- 
come a  great  scholar  and  distinguished 
preacher,  but  he  never  forgot  that  les- 
son, and  always  held  conscience  in 
supreme  veneration.  It  is  an  impor- 
tant part  of  a  good  man's  religion  to 


26     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

be  kind  to  the  animal-world,  and  it  is 
literally  true  that  — 

"  He  prayeth  well  who  loveth  well 
Both  man  and  bird  and  beast. 

He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 
All  things,  both  great  and  small, 

For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us 
He  made  and  loveth  all." 

I  know  of  a  woman  who  will  not 
allow  her  children  to  destroy  a  fly  in 
sport,  nor  to  pull  the  wings  from  a  but- 
terfly, nor  to  treat  harshly  a  dumb 
beast.  That  woman  is  training  her 
sons  and  daughters  in  the  direction  of 
a  good  and  useful  life.  Nero,  when  a 
youth,  took  great  pleasure  in  torment- 
ing animals.  He  transfixed  them  with 
the  spear,  cut  off  their  feet  and  then 
set  them  at  liberty,  clipped  the  wings 
of  birds  and  dropped  them  iroYn  high 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     27 

towers,  and  smeared  them  with  tar  and 
ignited  them.  When  Nero  became  a 
man  and  ruled  over  the  great  Roman 
empire,  what  was  his  character?  It 
was  just  what  might  have  been  prophe- 
sied from  his  boyhood.  He  no  longer 
contented  himself  with  cruelty  to  ani- 
mals, but  became  the  scourge  of  his 
fellow  men.  He  seized  the  early  Chris- 
tians, not  because  he  hated  them,  but 
because  they  were  unpopular  and  un- 
protected, and  when  he  had  enclosed 
them  in  sacks  of  tar  and  combustibles, 
had  them  suspended  from  trees  in  his 
garden.  Then  he  gave  a  great  banquet, 
and  at  an  appointed  signal  lighted  the 
sacks.  When  the  air  was  filled  with 
shrieks  of  agony,  and  mothers  were 
burning  with  their  little  children,  and 
strong  men  and  delicate  maidens  were 


28     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

wreathed  in  flame,  that  monster  —  let 
us  not  call  him  a  man  —  clapped  his 
hands  with  delight  and  laughed  in  bois- 
terous glee.  A  childhood  of  cruel 
sports  prepared  Nero  for  a  career  of 
inexpressible  infamy. 

Do  you  think  the  amusements  of  that 
little  Roman  boy  are  without  parallel 
in  the  sports  of  children  to-day  ?  Could 
the  horses,  cattle,  dogs,  creatures  of 
the  barn-yard  and  frogs  and  insects  find 
a  voice,  I  fear  we  should  discover  in- 
cipient Neros  not  far  from  home.  I 
read  not  long  ago,  in  a  daily  paper,  of 
a  youth  who  dipped  a  cat  in  kerosene 
and  then  set  the  creature  on  fire.  There 
you  have  a  young  Nero  training  him- 
self for  a  life  of  crime  and  cruelty. 
Hogarth,  who  was  a  shrewd  observer 
of  human  nature,  in  his  "  Four  Stages 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     29 

of  Cruelty,"  makes  a  boy  begin  his 
criminal  career  by  tormenting  animals. 
The  youth  advances  from  stage  to  stage 
until  at  length  he  commits  murder,  and 
ends  life  upon  the  gallows.  It  has 
been  truly  said :  "  The  effect  of  the 
barbarous  treatment  of  inferior  crea- 
tures on  the  minds  of  those  who  prac- 
tice it  is  more  deplorable  than  its  effects 
upon  the  animals  themselves.  The 
man  who  kicks  dumb  brutes  kicks  bru- 
tality into  his  own  heart.  He  who  can 
see  the  wistful,  imploring  eyes  of  half- 
starved  creatures  without  making  earn- 
est effort  to  relieve  them,  and  feel  no 
twinge  of  conscience,  is  on  the  road  to 
lose  his  manhood,  if  he  has  not  already 
lost  it."  What  shall  be  said  of  such  a 
case  as  that  recorded  by  Dr.  Gall  ?  He 
tells  us  of  a  student  who  was  so  fasci- 


30     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

nated  by  the  thought  of  cruelty  that 
he  studied  surgery  solely  to  gratify  a 
desire  for  seeing  and  inflicting  suffer- 
ing. He  cared  nothing  for  therapeutics 
and  Materia  Medica^  but  spent  all  his 
time  in  the  surgical  wards  of  hospitals. 
The  same  author  records  also  the  cases 
of  a  man  who  had  so  strong  an  inclina- 
tion to  kill  that  he  became  an  execu- 
tioner, and  of  a  Dutchman  who  paid 
his  butcher  for  being  allowed  to 
slaughter  animals.  Why  is  it  that 
when  there  is  a  public  execution  thou- 
sands of  people  go  miles  and  miles  to 
witness  it,  and  sometimes  pay  large 
prices  for  seats  near  the  gallows  ?  It 
is  a  cruel  spirit  that  takes  men  to  such 
places.  It  is  the  same  spirit  that  led 
a  Roman  populace  to  delight  in  gladia- 
torial exhibitions,  and  in  the  destruc- 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     31 

tion  of  Christians  in  the  amphitheatre. 
What  is  the  bull-fight  doing  for  Spain  ? 
Brutalizing  it.  The  English  chase  is 
another  inhuman  sport,  and  should  be 
ranked  with  bull-fighting,  bear-baiting 
and  the  cock-pit.  Surround  the  stag- 
hunt  and  fox-hunt  with  whatever  ro- 
mance you  please,  and  still  they 
remain  low,  demoralizing  and  cruel 
amusements. 

Vivisection  is  one  of  the  most  brutal 
of  all  forms  of  cruelty.*     Writes  Dr. 


*  It  is  claimed  that  in  the  time  of  Louis  XI, 
a  human  being  was  vivisected  in  France.  It 
is  stated  that  in  1474  a  condemned  robber  was 
vivisected  for  the  purpose  of  finding  out  where 
certain  maladies  were  concreted,  from  which 
he  and  numerous  other  persons  were  suffering 
at  that  time.  An  incision  was  accordingly 
made,  the  maladies  searched  for  and  examined, 
after  which  the  bowels  were  replaced  and  the 


32     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

Elliotson:  "Dr.  Magendie  —  in  one  of 
his  barbarous  experiments,  which  I  am 
ashamed  to  say  I  witnessed  —  began 
by  coolly  cutting  out  a  large  piece  from 
the  back  of  a  beautiful  little  puppy,  as 


body  was  sewed  up  again.  The  patient's 
wound  is  said  to  have  healed  within  fifteen 
days,  and  he  was  pardoned  and  given  some 
money. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  vivisection  of  human 
beings  was  charged  against  three  men,  viz., 
Berengar  of  Carpi,  Vesalius  and  Fallopius  in 
particular,  and  against  the  anatomists  of  the 
University  of  Pisa  in  general. 

Berengar  of  Carpi  is  believed  to  have  actually 
vivisected  two  Spaniards  ;  Vesalius  is  accused 
of  dissecting  a  Spanish  nobleman,  thinking 
that  he  was  dead,  and  Fallopius  is  said  to  have 
been  his  accuser.  The  following  paragraph  is 
found  in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  his  work, 
*' De  Tumoribus  :  "  "Fever  resists  'cole'  poi- 
sons, as  I  found  at  Pisa  while  anatomizing  a 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     S3 

he  would  from  an  apple  dumpling !  It 
is  not  to  be  doubted  that  inhumanity- 
may  be  found  in  persons  of  very  high 
standing  as  physiologists.  We  have 
seen  that  it  is  so  in  Magendie's  case.'* 


man.  For  the  prince  commands  them  to  give 
us  a  man,  whom  we  kill  in  our  own  fashion, 
and  anatomize.  To  whom  we  gave  two  drachms 
of  opium,  and  an  attack  of  ague  coming  on 
(for  he  suffered  from  quartan)  prevented  its 
action.  He,  delighted,  requested  a  second 
dose,  and  that  we  should  intercede  for  his  par- 
don if  he  survived  it.  We  gave  him  another 
two  drachms,  when  he  had  no  attack,  and  he 
died." — Medical  Record^  June  14^  igoa. 

The  recognition  of  the  rights  of  men  has 
now  made  human  vivisection  criminal,  and  the 
scientific  inquisition  of  the  present  time  counts 
animals  alone  as  its  victims.  And  here  the  Act 
of  1876  has  fortunately,  though  not  sufficiently, 
restricted  the  powers  of  the  vivisector  in  Great 
Britain. — Animals^  Rights^  by  H,  S.  Salt,  p.  /j. 


34     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

If  Dr.  Elliotson's  statement  is  worthy 
of  credence,  and  we  have  every  reason 
to  believe  it  is,  Professor  Huxley's 
name  being  attached  to  the  report  as 
one  of  many  endorsers,  the  science  of 
physiology  has  good  cause  for  shame, 
and  deserves  the  opposition  it  has  of 
late  encountered.  All  medical  stu- 
dents in  America  know  that  similar 
outrages  are  perpetrated  in  our  medical 
colleges  every  winter.  I  have  wit- 
nessed vivisections  so  cruel  and  un- 
necessary that  I  am  ashamed  to  re- 
member that  they  were  under  the 
patronage  of  my  Alma  Mater.  Were 
the  experiments  of  value  to  the  world 
—  were  they  calculated  to  further  the 
interests  of  the  healing  art,  or  to  miti- 
gate human  misery  and  lengthen  the 
life  of  man  —  I  would  approve  and  en- 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     35 

courage  them,  but  they  are  practically 
worthless,  as  many  eminent  physicians 
have  confessed.  Sir  William  Ferguson, 
a  celebrated  surgeon,  expressed  him- 
self thus:  "  In  surgery  I  am  not  aware 
of  any  of  these  experiments  on  the 
lower  animals  having  led  to  the  mitiga- 
tion of  pain  or  to  improvement  as  re- 
gards surgical  details."  The  ordinary 
vivisection  is  not  only  an  inexcusable 
cruelty  to  the  animal,  but  an  incalcu- 
lable injury  to  the  young  men  who  see 
it.  It  teaches  them  to  behold  without 
compassion  the  most  aggravated  mis- 
ery and  acute  anguish.  It  hardens  the 
heart  and  blunts  the  sensibilities.  Dr. 
Bigelow,  late  Professor  of  Surgery  at 
Harvard  University,  wrote  :  "  Watch 
the  students  at  a  vivisection.  It  is  the 
blood  and  suffering,  not  the  science, 


Z6     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

that  rivets  their  breathless  attention.  If 
hospital  service  makes  young  students 
less  tender  of  suffering,  vivisection 
deadens  their  humanity,  and  begets  in- 
difference to  it."  To  the  testimony  of 
Dr.  Bigelow  may  be  added  the  words 
of  a  distinguished  American  jurist: 
"  The  man  who  in  the  pursuit  of  knowl- 
edge finds  the  agony  of  a  dying  rabbit 
of  no  consequence,  will  soon  discover 
in  old  or  worthless  men,  helpless 
women  and  little  children  only  mate- 
rial to  be  sacrificed  upon  the  all-con- 
suming  altar    of    Science."*     In    the 


*In  a  lecture  before  the  Medical  Society  of 
Stockholm,  May  12,  1891,  Dr.  Jansen,  of  the 
Charity  Hospital  of  that  city,  reported  certain 
experiments  he  had  made  : 

"  When  I  began  my  experiments  with  black 
smallpox  pus,  I  should,   perhaps,  have  chosen 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     37 

"  Hand-Book  of  the  Physiological  Lab- 
oratory," compiled  for  the  use  of  stu- 
dents at  University  College,  we  find 
directions  for  performing  an  operation 
to  illustrate  "  Recurrent  Sensibility." 
It  is  recommended  that  the  operation 


animals  for  the  purpose.  But  the  most  fit  sub- 
jects, calves,  were  obtainable  only  at  consider- 
able cost.  There  was,  besides,  the  cost  of  their 
keep,  %o  I  concluded  to  make  my  experiments  upon 
the  children  of  the  Foundlings'  Home,  and  obtained 
kind  permission  to  do  so  from  the  head  phy- 
sician, Professor  Medin. 

"  I  selected  fourteen  children,  who  were  inoc- 
culated  day  after  day.  Afterward  I  discon- 
tinued them,  and  used  calves.  *  *  *  i  did 
not  continue  my  experiments  on  calves  long, 
once  because  I  despaired  of  gaining  my  ends 
within  a  limited  period,  and  again  because  the 
calves  were  so  expensive.  I  intend,  however,  to  go 
back  to  my  experiments  in  the  Foundling  Asylum  at 
some  future  time." 


38     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

be  performed  upon  a  cat  or  dog.  The 
method  is  this :  *'  The  arches  of  one 
or  two  vertebrae  are  carefully  sawn 
through,  or  cut  through  with  the  bone 
forceps,  and  the  exposed  roots  very 
carefully  freed  from  the  connecting  tis- 
sue surrounding  them.  If  the  animals 
be  strong,  and  have  thoroughly  recov- 


In  this  connection  as  showing  the  cruel  spirit 
of  Science  when  separated  from  the  sense  of 
moral  responsibility  and  from  regard  for  human 
rights,  we  may  quote  the  words  of  a  scientific 
instructor  published  by  himself  in  the  JVew  York 
Independent  for  December  12,  1895  : 

"A  human  life  is  nothing  compared  with  a 
new  fact  in  science.  ^  *  *  The  aim  of  sci- 
ence is  the  advancement  of  human  knowledge 
at  any  sacrifice  of  human  life.  *  *  *  If  cats 
and  guinea  pigs  can  be  put  to  any  higher  use 
than  to  advance  science  we  do  not  know  what 
it  is.  We  do  not  know  of  any  higher  use  we 
can  put  a  man  to." 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     39 

ered  from  the  chloroform  and  from  the 
operation,  irritation  of  the  peripheral 
stump  of  the  anterior  root  causes  not 
only  contraction  in  the  muscles,  but 
also  movements  in  other  parts  of  the 
body,  indicative  of  pain.  On  dividing 
the  mixed  trunk  the  contractions  cease, 
but  the  general  signs  of  pain  or  sensa- 
tion remain."  In  many  cases  curare  is 
substituted  for  chloroform.  Of  this 
drug  Holmgren  writes  in  his  "  Physi- 
ology of  Present  Times :  "  "  There  is  a 
poison  which  lames  every  spontaneous 
movement,  leaving  all  other  functions 
untouched.  This  venom  is  therefore 
the  most  cruel  of  all  poisons.  It 
changes  one  instantly  into  a  living 
corpse,  hearing,  seeing  and  knowing 
everything,  but  unable  to  move  a 
single  muscle,  and  under  its  influence 


40     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

no  creature  can  give  the  faintest  indi- 
cation of  its  hopeless  condition.  The 
heart  alone  continues  to  beat."  Dr. 
Bracket  by  various  torments  inflicted 
upon  a  dog  in  his  laboratory  at  Paris 
goaded  the  animal  to  the  utmost  frenzy 
of  anger,  and  then,  "  when  the  creature 
became  furious  whenever  it  saw  me,  I 
put  out  its  eyes,"  he  wrote  in  his  work 
on  Physiology.  He  added:  "  I  could 
then  appear  before  it  without  its 
manifesting  any  aversion.  I  spoke, 
and  immediately  its  anger  was  re- 
newed. I  then  disorganized  the  inter- 
nal ear  as  much  as  I  could,  and  when 
intense  inflammation  made  it  deaf, 
then  I  went  to  its  side,  spoke  aloud, 
and  even  caressed  it  without  its  falling 
into  a  rage."  Bondaline  tells  us  that 
Brown-S^quard  cut  off  the  head  of  a 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE    41 

dog  that  had  lived  a  long  time  in  his 
laboratory,  and  called  him  by  his  name. 
His  eyes,  though  blinded  with  blood, 
immediately  turned  to  the  distin- 
guished physiologist.*  The  illustrious 
scientist,  Von  Lesser,  "  plunged  a  dog 
for  thirty  seconds  into  boiling  water." 
Chauveau  subjected  eighty  horses  and 
mules  to  extreme  torture  simply  to 
discover  what  degree  of  anguish  it  was 
possible  to  produce  through  irritation 
of  the  spinal  chord.  Montegazza's  in- 
fernal "  experiments  "  performed  upon 
pregnant  and  nursing  animals  with  the 


*Brouardel  cites  a  case  witnessed  by  Drs. 
Regnard  and  Paul  Loye,  in  which  the  heart  beat 
for  one  hour  in  a  decapitated  murderer,  and  he 
himself  has  seen  the  heart-beat  persist  fifteen, 
twenty,  and  twenty-five  minutes  in  decapitated 
dogs,  and  in  those  dying  from  hemorrhage. 


42     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

machine  of  his  own  contriving,  and 
which  he  called  his  "  tormenter "  are 
of  such  a  nature  that  we  must  leave 
them  undescribed.  Of  these  he  says, 
**  I  conducted  them  with  much  delight 
and  extreme  patience  for  the  space  of 
a  year."  The  celebrated  Professor 
Schiff,  of  Florence,  has  destroyed  by 
vivisection  more  than  15,000  dogs. 
For  a  number  of  years  all  the  dogs  not 
claimed  at  the  Home  for  Lost  Dogs 
were  handed  over  to  Professor  Schiff, 
who  disposed  of  about  twenty-five 
every  month.  In  April,  1875,  the  fol- 
lowing announcement  was  posted  in 
the  most  conspicuous  places  of  Flor- 
ence: "  Dogs  are  purchased  at  No.  8, 
Via  S.  Sabastiano,  at  the  rate  of  one 
franc  each.  For  every  ten  dogs  a  sum 
to   be  agreed  on  between  buyer  and 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     43 

seller  will  be  paid."  The  horrible  ex- 
periments of  Horsley  and  Schiff  upon 
monkeys  furnish  another  illustration  of 
the  hardening  influence  of  vivisection. 
Mr.  Charles  Wood,  an  English  bird  and 
animal  fancier,  who  was  brought  before 
a  magistrate  on  the  charge  of  cruelty 
to  tame  rats,  presented  in  his  defense 
the  following  plea,  as  reported  in  the 
Manchester  Examiner  of  April  3,  1884 : 
"  He  supplied  rats,  birds,  rabbits,  dogs 
and  all  kinds  of  animals  to  be  tortured 
and  cut  up  alive  at  Owen's  College, 
and  why  was  he  charged  with  cruelty 
to  animals  ?  If  it  was  right  for  the  pro- 
fessors and  students  at  the  college,  why 
was  it  wrong  for  him?"  Sir  Thomas 
Dyer  said  before  the  English  "  Society 
for  the  Total  Abolition  and  Utter 
Suppression  of  Vivisection  :  "  "A  case 


44     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

of  vivisection  occurs  to  me  which  I 
feel  impelled  to  relate,  as  showing  that 
vivisection  is  sometimes  practised  for 
no  other  motive  than  that  of  cruelty. 
A  vivisector  known  to  me,  crucified  a 
dog  and  kept  it  without  food  or  water 
till,  at  the  end  of  eleven  days,  death 
put  an  end  to  its  sufferings.  For  what 
purpose  was  this  done  ?  The  operator 
himself  said  he  had  no  purpose  in  view 
but  to  see  how  long  a  dog  could  sup- 
port life  under  such  torture.  What 
possible  knowledge  of  real  value  could 
all  that  suffering  lead  to  ?  I  stigmatize 
the  act  as  simply  infernal."  Are  our 
medical  colleges  to  be  turned  into  tor- 
ture chambers,  and  are  our  young  men 
to  be  systematically  educated  to  cruelty 
in  the  learned  sciences?  Alas  for 
Science,  if  instead  of  ameliorating  the 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     45 

condition  of  man  and  beast,  it  is  to  be 
her  mission  to  brutalize  the  former 
and  bring  untold  agony  to  the  latter. 
The  man  who  will  intentionally  mal- 
treat a  horse  is  deserving  of  severe  pun- 
ishment. I  knew  of  a  wretch  who, 
because  his  horse  balked,  deliberately 
cut  out  its  tongue  and  cast  it  on  the 
roadside.  Twenty  years  in  state  prison 
should  have  been  the  consequence  of 
that  brutal  act  of  wanton  cruelty.  I 
wish  we  could  share  the  Arab's  attach- 
ment to  his  horse.  A  commentator  on 
the  Koran  declares,  with  the  exaggera- 
tion common  to  Eastern  writers,  that 
an  Arab  is  under  the  same  obligation 
to  love  and  provide  for  his  horse  that 
he  is  to  care  for  his  children.  Another 
author  assures  us  that  whoever  cher- 
ishes a  horse  for  God's   sake   will  be 


46     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

counted  among  "  the  charitable  whose 
sins  will  be  forgiven."  The  Arab  lives 
in  the  saddle,  and  his  safety  in  flight  as 
well  as  success  in  battle  depends  on  the 
speed  and  courage  of  his  charger.  He 
loves  his  horse  with  an  ardor  that  ap- 
pears absurd  to  western  men,  who  sel- 
dom put  the  animal  to  such  romantic 
use,  and  whose  safety  and  happiness 
are  not  so  dependent  on  the  creature's 
speed  and  mettle.  Wrote  Copp^e  in 
his  delightful  "  History  of  the  Con- 
quest of  Spain  by  the  Arab-Moors," 
"  Arabians  of  all  tribes  and  classes 
*  *  *  were  more  at  home  on  horse- 
back than  on  foot ;  the  horse  was  their 
friend,  companion,  child ;  they  lived 
and  talked  with  him,  and  he  was  not 
only  the  recipient  of  their  affection, 
but  the  creature  of  their  superstition." 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE    47 

Bayard  Taylor,  in  felicitous  lines,  sets 
forth  in  truly  Oriental  fashion  the 
Arab's  love  for  his  horse  : 

"  Come,  my  beauty  !    come,  my  desert  darling  ! 
On  my  shoulder  lay  thy  glossy  head  ! 
Fear  not,  though  the  barley-sack  be  empty, 
Here's  the  half  of  Hassan's  scanty  bread. 

"  Bend  thy  forehead  now,  to  take  my  kisses  ! 
Lift  in  love  thy  dark  and  splendid  eye  : 
Thou   art   glad   when    Hassan    mounts    the 
saddle  — 
Thou  art  proud  he  owns  thee  :  so  am  I. 

**  We  have  seen  Damascus,  O  my  beauty  ! 
And  the  splendor  of  the  pachas  there  ; 
"What's  their  pomp  and  riches  ?    Why,  I  would 
not 
Take  them  for  a  handful  of  thy  hair  ! " 

Some  of  the  most  soul-stirring  of 
Eastern  poems  are  descriptive  of  the 
horse  and  his  achievements.  What  can 
be  grander  than  this  from  Job? 


48     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

Hast  thou  given  the  horse  strength?  hast 
thou  clothed  his  neck  with  thunder? 

Canst  thou  make  him  afraid  as  a  grasshop- 
per?  the  glory  of  his  nostrils  is  terrible. 

He  paweth  in  the  valley,  and  rejoiceth  in  his 
strength  :  he  goeth  on  to  meet  the  armed  men. 

He  mocketh  at  fear,  and  is  not  affrighted  ; 
neither  turneth  he  back  from  the  sword. 

The  quiver  rattleth  against  him  ;  the  glitter- 
ing spear  and  the  shield. 

He  swalloweth  the  ground  with  fierceness 
and  rage  :  neither  believeth  he  that  it  is  the 
sound  of  the  trumpet. 

He  saith  among  the  trumpets,  Ha,  ha  !  and 
he  smelleth  the  battle  afar  off,  the  thunder  of 
the  captains,  and  the  shouting. 

No  doubt  there  is  something  roman- 
tic and  extravagant  in  the  Arab's  love 
for  his  horse,  and  yet  I  think  we  could 
share   the   sentiment    without    harm. 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     49 

Certain  it  is  that  whatever  teaches  us 
to  be  kind  and  considerate  in  our 
treatment  of  animals  makes  us  better 
men  and  women.  The  horse  is  a  brave, 
sensitive  and  intelligent  creature,  and 
it  is  not  at  all  wonderful  that  men 
have  loved  him  from  the  time  of 
Melizyus  to  the  present,  but  it  is 
astonishing  that  any  one  could  ever 
be  guilty  of  the  cruelty  and  brutality 
some  have  shown  to  innocent  and  de- 
fenceless animals.  Many  horses  are 
rendered  permanently  vicious  and  un- 
naturally timid  by  the  cruelty  which 
too  often  attends  the  process  of 
"  breaking."  Treat  a  horse  kindly  and 
it  will  be  gentle  and  obedient  unless 
badly  frightened.  There  is  no  reason 
why  as  warm  a  friendship  should  not 
exist  between  horse  and  owner  as  be- 


50     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

tween  dog  and  master.  There  is  much 
in  the  study  of  the  animal  world  to 
revive  romance,  kindle  enthusiasm  and 
cultivate  the  noble  virtues  of  kindness 
and  humanity.  The  considerate  and 
respectful  way  in  which  the  Bible,  and 
the  sacred  scriptures  of  all  great  re- 
ligions, speak  of  the  lower  orders  of 
creation,  ought  to  inspire  us  with  like 
spirit.  Truly  and  beautifully  Ruskin 
describes  the  attitude  a  good  and  noble 
man  assumes  toward  the  animals: 
"  The  gentleness  of  chivalry,  properly 
so-called,  depends  on  the  recognition 
of  the  order  and  awe  of  lower  and 
loftier  animal  life.  *  *  *  There  is 
perhaps,  in  all  the  '  Iliad,'  nothing 
more  deep  in  significance  —  there  is 
nothing  in  literature  more  perfect  in 
human  tenderness  and  honor  for  the 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     51 

mystery  of  inferior  life  —  than  the 
verses  that  describe  the  sorrow  of  the 
divine  horses  at  the  death  of  Patroclus, 
and  the  comfort  given  them  by  the 
greatest  of  gods." 

Thus  Plutarch  reminds  us  of  our 
duty  to  the  animal  world  :  "  The  obli- 
gations of  law  and  equity  reach  only 
to  mankind,  but  kindness  and  benefi- 
cence should  be  extended  to  animals 
of  every  species  ;  and  these  still  flow 
from  the  breast  of  a  well-natured  man, 
as  streams  that  issue  from  the  living 
fountain.  A  good  man  will  take  care 
of  his  horses  and  dogs,  not  only  while 
they  are  young,  but  when  old  and  past 
service.  Thus  the  people  of  Athens, 
when  they  had  finished  the  temple 
called  Hecatompedon,  set  at  liberty  the 
beasts  of  burden  that  had  been  chiefly 


52     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

employed  in  the  work,  suffering  them 
to  pasture  at  large,  free  from  any  other 
service.  It  is  said  that  one  of  these 
afterwards  came  of  its  own  accord  to 
work,  and  putting  itself  at  the  head  of 
the  neighboring  cattle,  marched  before 
them  to  the  citadel.  This  pleased  the 
people,  and  they  made  a  decree  that  it 
should  be  kept  at  the  public  charge  so 
long  as  it  lived.  The  graves  of  Cimon's 
mares,  with  which  we  thrice  conquered 
at  the  Olympic  games,"  are  still  to  be 
seen  near  his  own  tomb.  Many  have 
shown  particular  marks  of  regard,  in 
burying  the  dogs  which  they  had 
cherished  and  been  fond  of;  and 
amongst  the  rest  Xantippus  of  old, 
whose  dog  swam  by  the  side  of  his 
galley  to  Salamis,  when  the  Athenians 
were  forced  to  abandon  their  city,  and 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     53 

was  afterwards  buried  by  him  upon  a 
promontory,  which  to  this  day  is  called 
the  Dog's  Grave.  We  certainly  ought 
not  to  treat  living  creatures  like  shoes 
or  household  goods,  which,  when  worn 
out  with  use,  we  throw  away ;  and 
were  it  only  to  learn  benevolence  to 
human  kind  we  should  be  merciful 
to  other  creatures."  Surely  we  can 
think  with  only  the  most  kindly  regard 
of  the  Hyrcanian  dog  that,  when  he 
saw  his  master's  corpse  burning  on  the 
funeral  pile,  jumped  into  the  flames, 
and  was  consumed  with  it. 

It  is  a  great  mystery,  this  animal 
world  by  which  we  are  surrounded  and 
of  which  we  are  a  part.  We  share  a 
common  nature  with  the  creatures  be^ 
eath  us,  and  it  may  be  they  have  partn 
in  our  immortality.     For  anything  we 


54     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

know  to  the  contrary  the  beasts  of  the 
field,  the  birds  in  the  air  and  the  fishes 
in  the  sea  have  within  them  a  death- 
less principal  answering  to  the  soul 
in  man.*  So  the  Ettrick  Shepherd 
thought  when  he  wrote  :  "  I  canna  but 
believe  that  dawgs  hae  sowls."  Prof. 
Haeckel  says :  *'  I  once  knew  an  old 
head-forester,  who,  being  left  a  wid- 
ower and  without  children  at  an  early 
age,  had  lived  alone  for  more  than 
thirty  years  in  a  noble  forest  of  East 


*See  an  interesting  and  instructive  catalogue 
of  books  treating  of  the  "Nature,  Origin  and 
Destiny  of  the  Souls  of  Brutes,"  compiled  by 
Dr.  Ezra  Abbot,  librarian  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, and  published  in  his  "  Literature  of  the 
Doctrine  of  a  Future  Life."  The  catalogue 
originally  appeared  as  an  Appendix  to  Alger's 
"Critical  History  of  the  Doctrine  of  a  Future 
Life." 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE     55 

Prussia.  His  only  companions  were 
one  or  two  servants,  with  whom  he  ex- 
changed merely  a  few  necessary  words, 
and  a  great  pack  of  different  kinds  of 
dogs,  with  which  he  lived  in  perfect 
psychic  communion.  Through  many 
years  of  training  this  keen  observer 
and  friend  of  nature  had  penetrated 
deep  into  the  individual  souls  of  his 
dogs,  and  he  was  as  convinced  of  their 
personal  immortality  as  he  was  of  his 
own."  Lamartine  reverently  epito- 
mizes the  great  mystery  in  two  lines  of 
his  "  Episodes  of  Insect  Life :  ** 

"  My  dog  !  the  difference  between  thee  and  me 
Knows  only  our  Creator." 

There  is  nothing  in  the  Bible,  when 
rightly  understood,  to  discountenance 
the  belief  cherished  by  our  own  Agas- 


56     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

siz,  and  taught  by  Leibnitz  and  the 
poet  Coleridge  —  the  belief  that  both 
man  and  beast  enter  upon  a  future  life 
when  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  this  are 
ended.  And  there  is  much  in  the  un- 
equal allotments  of  the  life  that  now 
is,  to  render  the  immortality  of  the 
animal  world  highly  probable.  Here 
are  two  horses  equally  deserving  of 
kind  treatment,  but  one  falls  into  the 
possession  of  a  cruel  man  who  is  a 
stranger  to  mercy,  and  the  other  is 
owned  by  a  man  who  illustrates  the 
soul  of  Christian  gentleness  in  the  just 
and  humane  treatment  of  creatures 
dependent  upon  his  will  and  pleasure. 
How  shall  God  vindicate  His  justice 
and  establish  the  equity  of  His  unequal 
providence  if  there  be  no  life  for  beasts 
of  burden  when  the  toils  and  hardships 


CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE    57 

of  this  weary  world  are  forever  ended  ? 
"  I  will  honestly  confess,"  wrote  Top- 
lady,  author  of  the  beautiful  hymn 
Rock  of  Ages,  "  that  I  never  yet  heard 
one  single  argument  urged  against  the 
immortality  of  brutes  which,  if  admit- 
ted, would  not,  mutatis  mutandis^  be 
equally  conclusive  against  the  immor- 
tality of  man."  Mrs.  Somerville,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-nine,  wrote  in  her 
"  Memoirs,"  as  follows :  "  I  cannot  be- 
lieve that  any  creature  was  created  for 
uncompensated  misery ;  it  would  be 
contrary  to  the  attribute  of  God's 
mercy  and  justice.  I  am  sincerely 
happy  to  find  that  I  am  not  the  only 
believer  in  the  immortality  of  the 
lower  animals."  The  longer  I  live  the 
more  convinced  I  am  that  we  all  — 
men,  beasts,  birds,  fishes  and  insects  — 


58     CHRIST  AMONG  THE  CATTLE 

are  the  creatures  of  a  loving  God,  who 
will  not  allow  a  sparrow  to  fall  to  the 
earth  without  His  notice,  and  I  am 
willing  to  believe  with  the  poor  Indian 
who 

"Thinks,  admitted  to  that  equal  sky, 
His  faithful  dog  shall  bear  him  company." 


I^'  •--^.; 


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